Strand reeling apparatus



April 22, 1958 W. BERTHOLD STRAND REELING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 1956 INVENTOR W 85/? THOLD A TTORNE) ind STRAND REELING APPARATUS Woif Berthold, Andover, Mass, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. a corporation of New York Application June 26, 1956, Serial No. 593,859

8 Claims. (CI. 57-60) This invention relates to strand reeling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for removing strands from stationary reels and winding them on stationary reels.

The speed with which operations can be performed on strands such as insulating, covering, twisting and stranding operations depends largely upon the ease of winding or unwinding the strands rather than the intermediate steps of processing them. The reason for this is the inertia of the rotating reels which comes into play during starting and stopping and also during running when the distributions of the strands on the reels are not perfect. This adverse effect is found to be cumulative because higher speeds make larger reels for larger supplies and larger takeups desirable while, at the same time, at higher speeds the inertia is more disturbing than at low speeds.

The object of the present invention is an apparatus for efficiently removing strands from stationary reels, winding them on a stationary reel and creating a constant twist in the strands.

In one embodiment of the invention, a differential is utilized with half-flyers, removing strands from stationary supply reels, and a full flyer to effect constant twist in the strands. A takeup unit including a stationary reel receives the twisted strands wound flyer fashion thereon through a differential from a strand advancing capstan operatively connected to the second differential to divide the eifected twists between the supply and takeup portions of the apparatus to maintain the twist length of the strands constant.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein, the single figure is a front elevational view of the apparatus, portions thereof being shown in section.

In this embodiment of the invention, reels 10 and 11 are mounted in stacked formation on a stationary support 12 and have their strands directed through unwinding half-flyers 14 and 15 respectively. The half-flyer 15 is of the conventional floating type resting on or nesting in the adjacent hub of the top reel 11 and having its guide rollers 16 and 17 directing-the strand. In the present instance, the reel 10 is filled with turns of a strand 18 while the reel 11 is filled with turns of a strand 19. The strand 19 enters an opening 20 in the half-flyer 14 so that from this point on the strands travel together through the apparatus. The half-flyer 14 extends through and is fixed to a bottom gear 21 of an unwinding differential 22. The gear 21 is operatively connected to a top gear 23 through an intermediate gear 24 disposed in and axially fixed to an arm 25 of the differential. The top gear 23 is mounted upon a spindle 26 supported by suitable bearings 27 disposed in a main frame 28. An auxiliary full flyer 30 supported by the arm 25 of the differential 22 has its entrance end disposed in alignment with the exit end of the half-flyer 14 to receive the strands 18 and 19 therefrom and direct them, as they pass from the exit end 31 of the full flyer, to a capstan 32. If desired the stationary supatent ice port 12 and the bearing for the exit end 31 of the full flyer 30 may be parts of a planetary gearing as shown in copending application, Serial No. 593,977, filed June 26, 1956. The capstan 32 receives a desired number of turns of the strands 18 and 19 after which the strands are directed through a winding differential 33, a winding halffiyer 34 to the drum of a takeup reel 35. The takeup reel 35 is disposed upon a support 36 held against rotation but movable vertically by a piston 37 in an air cylinder 38 under the control of any suitable means adapted to reciprocate the support and the takeup reel at desired speeds to uniformly distribute the strands 18-19 on the reel.

The differential 33 includes a top gear 40, a bottom gear 41 and an intermediate gear 42. The half-flyer 34 extends through the bottom gear 41, is fixed thereto and is supported for rotation by suitable bearings. The top gear 40 is mounted upon a hollow shaft 43 disposed in axial alignment with the entrance end of the half-flyer 34 and is journalled in an arm 44 of the differential. The intermediate gear 42 is axially fixed to the arm 44. A gear 45 mounted upon the upper end of the hollow spindle 43 interengages a gear 46 mounted on a shaft 47. A bevelled gear 48 mounted on the shaft 47 interengages a bevelled gear 49 mounted on a shaft 50 which supports the capstan 32. In this manner, the capstan is operatively connected to the top gear 40 of the diflt'erential 33.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the spindle 26 of the unwinding differential 22 is connected to the arm 44 of the winding differential 33 through groups of gears and a connecting shaft. The connecting shaft 54 has one end connected through gears 55, 56 and 57 to the spindle 2.6, and through it to the top gear 23 of the differential 22. In a similar manner, the lower end is connected .through gears 58, 59 and 60 to the arm 44 of the differential 33. It is important to note that there is a two-to-one ratio between the top connections 55, 56 and 57 and the bottom connections 58, 59 and 60; that is, between the top gear 23 of the differential 22 and the arm 44 of the differential 33. The driving means originates in a motor 62 and shaft 63 is connected'to the hollow shaft 43 through pulleys 64 and 65 and a belt 66. The motor shaft 63 is connected through a slip clutch 67 and belt and pulley connection 68 to the half-flyer 34.

Before considering the operation of the apparatus it should be understood that strands advancing through ro-. tating flyers are thereby twisted in several ways.

When two strands are unwound from stacked stationary supply reels, as shown in the present embodiment of the invention, by means of hair-flyers the strands are twisted about each other through the action of the main half-flyer and one pair twist is formed for each revolution of the main half-flyer. The pair of strands must be advanced by external means and the advancement of the strands will set the half-flyers in rotation. The direction of the flyers is determined entirely by the direction in which the strands appear to be wound on their supply reels, and the apparent direction of the strands on their reels may be reversed by turning the reels upside down.

One counterclockwise revolution of the unwinding main half-flyer forms one left hand twist in the pair of strands; one clockwise revolution of the unwinding half-flyer forms one right hand twist in the pair of strands. The direction of rotation of the floating half-flyer and the size or fullness of the upper supply reel has no effect on the twist direction or twist length in which the strands are twisted about each other.

When a pair of strands is advanced through a fullflyer from its entrance end to the exit end, two pair twists are formed therein for each revolution of the full-flyer. The flyer must be set in motion by external means. The direction of rotation is determined by the external driving means. The pair of strands must also be advanced by external means. One counterclockwise revolution of the full-flyer forms two right hand pair twists in the pair of strands; one clockwise revolution of the full-flyer forms two left hand pair twists in the pair of strands.

When a pair of strands is wound on a stationary takeup reel by means of a half-fiver one twist is formed in the pair of strands for each revolution of the half-fiver. The fiyer must he set in rotation by external means and the rotation of the ilyer will advance the pair of strands and wind it onto the reel. The leading it of strands must be secured to the reel. The direction of rotation is determined by the external driving means. One counterclockwise revolution of the winding hailflyer forms one left hand twist in the pair of strands; one clockwise revolution of the winding half-dyer forms one right hand twist in the pair of strands.

It can be seen from the above statements that pair of strands which advances through an unwinding main half-dyer and through a full-dyer or through a fullflyer and a winding half-fiyer will be free twists provided that in each case the full t'lyer makes half a revolution for each full revolution of the respective halfflyer and provided further that the direction of the halfrevolution of the full-fiyer is the same as that of the full-revolution of the respective half-dyer. This follows from the fact that full-flyers rotating in the same direction as half-flyers form twists in the twist direction or lay opposite to that formed by half-fiyers and that full-fiyers form one twist for half a revolution while halfflyers form one twist for one full-revolution.

Furthermore it should be understood that the free floating arm of a differential will. revolve at the average of the speeds of the externally rotated input gear and the externally rotated output gear. This relationship can also be expressed by the statement that the arm will make a half a revolution for each revolution of the input gear and a half a revolution for each revolution of the output gear. The direction of rotation of the halfrevolution of the arm is the same as that of the controlling input or output gear respectively.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus, let it be assumed that strand 18 is threaded through main halffiyer 14, strand 19 is threaded through floating half-lyer and through opening 20 and joins strand 1% in the exit end of the main half-dyer 1 and that the pair of strands is threaded through the full-dyer 30, several turns around capstan 32, through the differential 33 and halffiyer 34 with the leading end secured to the empty tateup reel 35. With the driving means 62 energized and the control means for air cylinder 38 in operation, it will be apparent that the rotation of fiyer 34 will tend to advance the pair of strands 13-19 and wind it on takeup reel 35 and that capstan 32 will advance the pair of strands l819 at a speed controlled by motor 62. as long as slip clutch 67 maintains suficient torque on fiyer 34 to keep the pair of strands snubbed tightly around capstan 32.

The advancement of the pair of strands will set fiyers 15 and 14 in motion, their direction of rotation depending on the winding of the strands on their respective reels.

The full-fiyer 3i), fixedly attached to the free floating arm of the unwinding differential 22 will make half a revolution for each revolution of the half-fiver lid, fixedly attached to the output gear 21 of the differential 22, and half a revolution for each revolution of the input gear 23 of differential 22.

Gear 23, however, is connected by mechanical linkage to gear 60 of the winding differential 33 in a two-toone ratio and makes one revolution for each half-revolution of gear 60. Gear 6 fixedly attached to the floating arm 44 of winding differential 33 wil make half a revolution for each revolution of dyer 34, fixedly attached to the output gear 41 of the differential, and half a revolution for each revolution of the input gear 40 of differential 33. Gear 23 will then make one revolution for each revolution of fiyer 34 and one revolution for each revolution of input gear 4-9 of winding dilierential 33.

It follows, therefore, that the full rlycr 30, fixedly attached to the free floating arm 25 of the unwinding differential 22 will make half a revolution for each revolution of the unwinding half-dyer l4, half a revolution for each revolution of winding flyer 3d and half a revolution for each revolution of the input gear 40 of windin: dil'lereniial 33.

The half-revolution which the full-flyer makes for each revolution of the unwinding half-flyer 14 will form a twist opposite to that formed in the pair of strands by one revolution of the unwinding half-dyer 14, and the half-revolution which the full-flyer 36 makes for each revolution of winding half-fiyer 34 will form a twist opposite to that formed in the pair of strands by one revolution of the winding half-flyer 14.

it follows therefore, that the pair of strands when leaving the exit end of'winding half-fiyer 34 and as wound on takeup reel will have formed therein one twist for each revolution of the input gear 40 of the winding differential. Examination of the gear train 4tl4547 43-4? will show that for each revolution of gear 40 the capstan 32 will advance the pair of strands a fixed amount, depending entirely and only on the gear ratio between capstan 39 and the input gear 40 and on the diameter of the capstan. This means that the apparatus will remove two individual strands from two stationary supply reels and wind the pair of strands, twisted at uniform and deliberately chosen twist length, on a takeup reel, regardless of the direction in which the individual strands are unwound from their supply reels, or in which the pair of strands is wound on the takeup reel and regardless of the relative size of any of the reels.

The direction of twist in the pair of strands wound on the takeup reel may be reversed by reversing the direction of rotation of the input gear 40 of the winding differential 33 in relation to the direction of rotation of the capstan 32.

By choosing difierent sizes for the capstan or different ratios of gearing between the capstan and the input gear of the winding differential or both it is possible to select difierent twist lengths for the pair of the strands. For any chosen combination of gear ratio and capstan size, however, the twist length will be uniform over the entire length of the pair of strands regardless of the fact that the speeds of all the fiyers will change during the winding process.

In reviewing the operation of the apparatus it should be understood that the strands 18 and 19 are advanced longitudinally at a constant linear speed by the capstan 32. Assuming the supply reels 10 and 11 are filled with the same amount of strand material and are positioned to unwind in the same direction, the half flyers 14 and 15 will rotate in like directions and at like speeds, one revolution for each strand turn on their reels. Each revolution of the fiyer 14 will rotate the gear 21 of differential 22 one revolution.

At the beginning the takeup reel 35 is empty and the fiyer 34, receiving the strands from the capstan 32 must rotate at speeds necessary to wind the strands on the takeup reel. The driving means for half-flyer 34 is the motor 62 through the slip-clutch 67 which is capable of supplying the desired driving torque to the half flyer to wind thestrands with a given tension. The speeds of the half-flyers 14-15 and 34 vary. As the strand convolution on the supply reels Ill-11 decreases in length the half-flyers increase in speed and as the turns of the strands build up on the takeup reel 35, the halffiyer 34 decreases its speed. The half-fiyers tend to place like twists in like directions in the strands. Actually the function of the full flyer 30 is to form reverse twists, that is, twists in the opposite direction from the direction of the twists formed in the strands by the half-fiyers. Therefore, the full-flyer 30 is interposed between the half-fiyers 14-15 and 34 to form in the strands a given number of twists in one direction to cancel the twists formed in the opposite direction by the half-fiyers 14-15, leaving enough twists in said one direction to balance or remove the number of twists which the half-flyer 34 tends to make in said opposite direction.

The function of the full-flyer is brought about through the differentials 22 and 23, the actions thereon by their half-fiyers 1415 and 34 and the mechanical linkage between the differentials. It is presumed that the general functions of a differential are well known in the art.

Beginning with the differential 33 the bottom gear 41 is driven at a speed controlled by the half-flyer 34. The top gear 40 is driven at a constant speed by the motor 62. Although the gears 40 and 41 are driven in the same directions their speeds may vary most of the time as one is always constant and the other is frequently decreasing in speed. If the known constant speed of gear 40 equals the maximum speed of gear 41, then at the beginning, with an empty takeup reel the speeds of the gears 40 and 41 may be the same and, through the central gear 42, the arm 44 will be rotated in the same direction at the same speed. This rotary motion is imparted to the top gear 23 of difierential at a ratio of 2 to 1, the ratio between the lower gears 58, 59 and 60 and the upper gears 55, 56 and 57 of shaft 54. As the speed of rotation of the half-flyer 34 (and gear 41) decreases the speed of rotation of the arm 44 will decrease, reducing the speed of the gear 23 of difierential 22.

The full-flyer 30 is fixedly carried by the arm 25 of differential 22 and is rotated therewith. The half-flyer 14 is fixedly carried by the lower gear 21 and causes one revolution of the gear with each turn of strand removed from the reel 10. The half-flyer follows the halfflyer 14 and gives like twists to its strand 19.

If the speed of rotation of the half-fiyers 1415 and 34 were the same at all times, the full-flyer 30 could be fixed to rotate with either half-flyer and the differentials with their connecting gears 55-60 and the shaft 54 may be eliminated from the apparatus. However, the speed of rotation of the gear 23 of differential 22 and the speed of rotation of the gear 21 govern the speed of the arm and thus the speed of the full-flyer 30.

In further explaining the differentials 22 and 33 it may be said that their arms 25 and 44 are rotated at speeds which are the differences between the speeds of their top and bottom gears. Therefore, the varying speed of the half-flyer is translated to the differential 22 through gear 23 and when combined with the varying speed of the gear 21 driven by the half-flyer 14 will jointly drive the full-flyer at a speed to perform its function. As a result a constant twist is formed in the strands. The number of twists per given lengths of the strands are determined by the ratio of the gears 55-57 and 58-60. By varying this ratio the number of twists in a given length of the strands may be varied.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, and means responsive to the fiyers to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the flyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands.

2. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, a rotatable auxiliary flyer for the strands interposed, along paths of the strands, between the unwinding flyer and the winding flyer, and means to cause rotation of the auxiliary flyer to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding fiyers and introduce uniform twists 'of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands.

3. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, a rotatable auxiliary flyer for the strands interposed between the unwinding fiyers and the winding flyer along the paths of the strands, and driving means connecting the unwinding and winding fiyers with the auxiliary flyer to cause the auxiliary flyer to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding flyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands.

4. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a Winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, operatively connected unwinding and winding units respectively connected to the fiyers, power means to drive the winding unit and its flyer, and an auxiliary flyer interposed between the unwinding and winding flyer along the paths of the strands and caused to rotate by the units to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding fiyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands.

5. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyerfor the strands of the supply reels introducing variable twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands Wound on the takeup reel, operatively connected unwinding and winding units respectively connected to the fiyers, power means to drive the winding units and its flyer, an auxiliary flyer interposed between the unwinding and winding fiyers along the paths of the strands and caused to rotate by the units to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding fiyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands, and means driven by the power means to advance the strands longitudinally.

6. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing variable twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, operatively connected unwinding and winding units respectively connected to the fiyers, power means to drive the winding units and its flyer, an auxiliary flyer interposed between the unwinding and winding fiyers along the I paths of the strands and caused to rotate by the units to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding fiyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands, means driven by the power means to advance the strands longitudinally, and means actuable to reciprocate the takeup reel relative to the winding fiyer to cause distribution of the strands on the takeup reel.

7. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, a rotatable auxiliary flyer interposed between the unwinding flyer and the winding flyer along the paths of the strands, unwinding and winding differentials having arms housing top and bottom gears with intermediate gears connecting their top and bottom gears and axially fixed to their arms, the unwinding fiyer being fixed to the bottom gear of the unwinding differential, the Winding fiyer being fixed to the bottom gear of the winding differential, power means to drive the top gear and the flyer of the winding differential, the auxiliary flyer rotatable with the arm of the unwinding differential, and means operatively connecting the diiierentials to cause the auxiliary fiyer to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the unwinding and winding fiyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strands.

8. An apparatus for unwinding strands from stationary supply reels and winding them on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding half-fiyer for the strands of the supply reels introducing twists in the strands removed from the supply reels, a winding half-flyer introducing twists in the strands wound on the takeup reel, a rotatable full-flyer for the strands interposed between the unwinding half-fiver and the winding half-flyer along the paths of the strands, unwinding and winding differentials having arms housing top and bottom gears with intermediate gears connecting their top and bottom gears and axially fixed to their arms, the unwinding half-flyer being fixed to the bottom gear of the unwinding differential, the winding half-fiver being fixed to the bottom gear of the winding differential, power means to drive the top L of the winding differential and the winding half-dyer, the full-fiyer rotatable with the arm of the unwinding differential, means operatively connected to the power means to advance the strands longitudinally at a predetermined linear speed, and means operatively connecting the diiierentials'and driven by the arm of the unwinding differential to drive the full-flyer to cause it to remove from the strands the twists introduced by the half-flyers and introduce uniform twists of predetermined twist length and direction in the strand.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,690,373 Marchev Nov. 6, 1928 2,099,876 Weaver Nov. 23, 1937 2,410,674 Nelson Nov. 5, 1946 2,464,860 Green Mar. 22, 1949 

